A defiant Paul Green insists his camp handled the Ronaldo Mulitalo dilemma well, but he hasn’t stopped short of describing it as “a massive breakdown in the process” following the Maroons’ series loss.
The Queensland camp copped an enormous shake less than 24 hours before kick-off at Suncorp Stadium when Mulitalo was ruled ineligible to make his State of Origin debut.
The Auckland-born Sharks winger represented the Maroons in the under-16s, under-18s and under-20s, but he was denied his Origin dream because he didn’t moved to Queensland until he was 13 years and 10 months.
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Origin eligibility rules state that if a player wasn’t born in Queensland they can only play for the Maroons if they lived in the state before their 13th birthday.
“It’s obviously a massive breakdown in the process and I don’t think that’s finished yet,” Green bristled in his press conference following the Blues’ 26-0 victory.
“From all the information that was available to us he was eligible to play. He signed his last two contracts and in that he signed his eligibility to say he was ‘yes’ for Queensland.”
Mulitalo was initially named in Queensland’s extended squad and was only called up to debut when teen fullback Reece Walsh suffered an injury during a training session.
Green shuffled his troops, shifting Valentine Holmes to fullback and slotting in Mulitalo on the left wing. When the NSWRL took exception to Mulitalo making his debut, the NRL stopped the move and sacked winger Xavier Coates was recalled to replace Mulitalo.
Former NSW captain Paul Gallen slammed the NRL’s decision to not let Mulitalo make his Origin debut.
“I don’t know how it happened. It frustrated and angered me,” Gallen said on Nine’s post-match coverage.
“He’s played for Queensland since he was 16 years of age: 16s, 18s and 20s. So he’s been sold the dream of playing for his state for a long, long time. And to come out within the last 24 hours before he was picked to play and rule him out – it’s disgraceful.
“I don’t know if it’s the Queensland Rugby League’s fault, the NRL’s fault, I don’t know who’s fault it is. But someone should have to pay for it. It’s not good enough what’s happening.
“If he’s not eligible to play he’s taking kids’ spots from Queensland who should have been able to play when they were 16. It’s probably affected their career.
“I’m not putting my Ronaldo Mulitalo hat on because I’m a good friend of his; it’s just a shame that he never got to play.
“He’s suited for this arena, he’s so passionate when it comes to Queensland.
“Look, I’m a New South Welshman so I’m happy that he didn’t play. But I just think it’s a disgrace what happened. I feel really sorry for him – I really do.
“And the whole situation – how it came to today, came to a head today, is just ridiculous.”
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